WINTER 23-24 KV-1 to KV-85 to KV-2 COMPLETED!

[ColemanCollector]

KV-2 was cleaned of rust, primed and painted

So nice to see it being cared for against the elements of outdoor display. Looks like Bovington, Saumur, Koblenz, and Moscow are on the tankwatching itinerary!

Mike.

[ColemanCollector]

All right! Time to get this KV-2 looking like it should when it comes to engine deck fashionability, after my welding faux pas!

Here's the real deal and you'll notice the engine deck covers come up tight to the hull sides and are bolted down to allow removal.

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HL interprets it like this--a shallow trench with weldy marks running the length of the hull. The engine deck covers are the same width as the rest of the tank and appear welded down.

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Silly goose me decided to bring the welds up to the proper height which is correct for everywhere, but not where the engine deck covers run. Eagle-eye Artem Redarmy caught that gaffe (marked in blue below), so let's get to work and get the KVaucity back into this Dreadnought!

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A little filing and sanding gets the welds down to height. Every little black mark is a low spot that needs filling.

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A skim of filler followed by sanding eliminates the evil weld and fills in HLs gap completely.
A little scribing with my schwanky new scribing tool (go figure!), and voila! We now have engine deck covers nice and tight to the hull sides, but no welds--neither mine nor Heng Longs! Life is good.

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A little surface texture, some flame cuts on the hull side tops and all is well in KV-2 land.

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Got to admit, this was actually a pretty fun little bit of corrective detailing. Rarely--ok never--do I get to ask somebody who has actually crawled over a KV-2 if things look OK, soooo Artem RedArmy do things look ok? LOL

Mike.

[Ecam]

Great job on the fix. Sometimes it hurts a little to find out after a job is complete. I tend to jump in without much research and have been "bit" a few times.

[ColemanCollector]

Thanks! Actually, it's the way I would've done the work from the get go to fix HL's inaccuracy, just took me awhile to get around to it! I suspect most HL KV's get left as is with the incorrect trench and fakey weld marks by the engine compartment covers.

Mike.

[Panzermechaniker]

Nice looking KV-2. Maybe you could get down to the K-W field this summer to give it a run. My Tamiya needs company as the minute it goes out on the field every other tank is shooting the big ugly duckling

[HERMAN BIX]

Nice looking KV-2. Maybe you could get down to the K-W field this summer to give it a run. My Tamiya needs company as the minute it goes out on the field every other tank is shooting the big ugly duckling

And what a target it is !!
The sad part is an I.R. beam has no respect for armour thickness when imagining back in the day, a poor PzIII commander would have laid a cable ( ) when one of these wandered into the gunsights.

[ColemanCollector]

Nice looking KV-2. Maybe you could get down to the K-W field this summer to give it a run. My Tamiya needs company as the minute it goes out on the field every other tank is shooting the big ugly duckling

And what a target it is !!
The sad part is an I.R. beam has no respect for armour thickness when imagining back in the day, a poor PzIII commander would have laid a cable ( ) when one of these wandered into the gunsights.

Looking at period photos of KV-2s, many fall into one of three categories:
1. Pristine condition perched at a precarious angle in a ditch and abandoned;
2. Shot and blown up to smithereens;
3. Being clammered over by curious German troops, some posing bravely for the camera whilst the others look in the turret hatch and are then figuring out the best place to do what Herman Bix mentions!

Mike.

[Panzermechaniker]

Yes they always look like some abandoned dog looking sad sitting mostly undamaged in a ditch in a lot of the photos. Definitely one of my favourite tanks to drive around the field

[ColemanCollector]

I was dying to fiddle with something on my KV-2, but despite searching through over 300 images I just couldn't find a detailed shot of my goal--until Artem RedArmy posted his sprucing up shots of the only genuine KV-2 residing in Moscow. The turret sides and stern have cute little pistol ports that can be pushed out of the hull, and retrieved on their leash.

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I decided to duplicate-ish, one of these ports on the backporch door of my turret. Drilled a pilot hole of 2mm, then reamed it out to 4.3mm so it had a taper.

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An old paintbrush handle cut at 4.3mm was then chucked in my precision lathe! I marked out the lines for shaping, adjusted the speed clamp for a precise 738rpm (sure), and got lathing!

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It's the basic shape--ish. A little sanding and paint, and thread to approximate its lanyard, and it actually fits the aperture nice and snug so I can display it open or closed up. A nail head for the outer cover gives it a bit of weight.

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Inside is nothing fancy since I'll keep the hatch closed, otherwise the breech needs detailing, servos need hiding, wiring needs tucking, turret walls need painting, Mike needs scotching...

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I'm going to browse the interior photos more to determine the correct colour scheme for the pistol port plug's interior before weathering. The real hatch in this photo has some nasty flame cuts compared to the rest of the tank--must've been a Friday afternoon job at the Kirovskiy Plant!

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Next up--colour!

Mike.

[ColemanCollector]

"It's Not Easy Being Green"--a photo essay...

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Next up: weathering and whitewash...gulp...

Mike.